The legal responsibility is set out in the Organic Law on the National Bank of Georgia (last amended in October 2015), which lists the functions of the National Bank of Georgia. Specifically, Article 3 paragraph 3 (h), states that the function of the NBG is to carry out and disseminate information on country's financial and external sector statistics, based on international standards and methods.

External debt

Article 2 Definitions of the NBG Law define the external sector statistics as comprising of the balance of payments, international investment position, external debt, and official international reserves statistics.

The NBG shares data with the National Statistics Office of the Georgia (GEOSTAT) and Ministry of Finance in the process of compilation of financial and external sectors statistics.

External debt

The NBG shares data with the GEOSTAT and the MOF in the process of compiling financial and external sectors statistics. The MOF provides the NBG with government and government-guaranteed external debt and financial services related to such debt. GEOSTAT shares with the NBG data on external trade (goods and services), the stocks and flows of FDI, portfolio and other investments for other sectors. Data on services are provided also by other governmental agencies.

The NBG does not disclose confidential data of individual institutions or transactions. Article 20 of the NBG's Organic Law provides the legal framework for confidentiality:

No person who serves/served as the National Bank Council, the Agency or the Service Member, employee or auditor shall permit access of any unauthorized person to confidential information, disclose or publicize such information or use it for personal gain(paragraph 1).

Except as otherwise provided for by this Law, the information on accounts and transactions of a physical or legal person, or the third party, may be disclosed only in written form, pursuant to a court decision, and be authorized for disclosure by the NBG President or other person authorized by the NBG President (paragraph 3).

The Council of the National Bank can claim the confidentiality, within a reasonable term, of information contained in the National Bank, in order to retain the monetary policy, statistical and/or financial sector sustainability. The list of such information, duration of restriction and the rules of issuance are defined by the Council of the National Bank(paragraph 5).

External debt

The external debt aggregation and dissemination procedures ensure that information not be published in a manner likely to enable the identification of a particular person or organization.

According to the Article 331, par. 1 of the Organic Law on the NBG, the National Bank is authorized to request statistical and accounting reports, as well as other necessary information from the financial Institutions, needed for the compilation of monetary, financial and external sector statistics.

The NBG is authorized also “to require and receive from public institutions and any other person all statistical, accounting and other information (including confidential) necessary for discharging the duties imposed thereon” (Article 45 of the Organic Law on the NBG).

Commercial Banks have the responsibility to prepare and submit to the NBG reporting forms and details prescribed by the Law of Georgia on activities of Commercial banks of 1996, Article 29.

According to Article 30 of the Law of Georgia on activities of Commercial Banks, failure to comply with the reporting requirements is punishable by a fine and the NBG may suspend or restrict commercial banks operations in the event of non response.

NBG‘s directive N 112/04 on
NBG's statistical informational system "SebStat"(November 26,
2015), sets out specific requirements for compiling and submission statistical
information by commercial banks, their periodicity, and timeliness. NBG‘s
directives contain detail guidelines and case studies on the preparation of XML
files by credit institutions and their submission to the NBG in form of unique
keys, identifying requested data. Statistical data structure reported to NBG
allows calculate sectoral balance sheets for ODCs in line with the international
statistical standards. Meetings, seminars, and consultations with
representatives of reporting institutions are held on anad
hocbasis and serve for data quality improvements.

There are two separated statistical divisions within Macroeconomics and Statistics Department of NBG, responsible for Monetary Statistics and Balance of Payments Statistics. The NBG employs (as ofOctober 30, 2017) 391 persons.

Staff qualification and computer resources are adequate to perform the required tasks.

NBG is financially independent and self-sufficient to meet its statistical obligations.

External debt

The BOP division is responsible for compiling the external sector statistics, including the balance of payments, IIP and external debt statistics. The Balance of Payments Division employs six staff members, one of which is young professional, in charge of the balance of payments, IIP, and external debt statistics compilation, analysis, dissemination. Recently, compilers attended the External Debt Statistics and BOP statistics courses organized by the IMF.

The NBG implements specific measures to ensure efficient use of resources, such as reengineering of business processes, utilization of the IT, promotion of information sharing, and strengthening planning capabilities via the set of actions prepared for each fiscal year. Free interactions between the managers and staff enhance the efficient compilation of statistics.

The NBG established a performance appraisal procedure for its staff. The appraisal is conducted every three years and is used as a basis for personnel decision: salary increases or decreases, promotions, etc.

User requirements are monitored annually by means of user surveys. Several groups of statistics users are consulted bilaterally: government agencies, financial corporations, other market participants. In addition, data users may provide their comments and feedback to the NBG through the contact point in the NBG‘s website (www.nbg.gov.ge).

Moreover, the Monetary Statistics Division as well as Balance of Payments Statistics Division have actively initiated consultations with the IMF, and other central banks with the view of improving the quality of the statistical data through training and technical assistance. The focus on quality covers all levels of the organization and senior management.

The NBG data compilers have frequent meetings and consultations with data providers. Data obtained from parallel sources are checked for consistency.One of the main goals of the work programs of statistical divisions of the NBG are focused on high quality statistics by extensive use of international standards. Taking into account the findings from the internal audit, the statistical programs and processes are revised and updated.

External debt

During 2007-2008, the NBG Balance of Payments Division had access to the guidance and technical assistance of IMF Regional Statistics Advisor on the quality of statistics and on strategies for improving data production. NBG managers are informed on the quality achieved for ongoing statistical activities.

One of the main goals of the work programs of statistical divisions of the NBG are focused on high quality statistics by extensive use of international standards. Taking into account the findings from the internal audit, the statistical programs and processes are revised and updated.

Article 4 of the Organic Law of the NBG states, that The National Bank shall be independent in its operations. No legislative, executive or other body shall have the right to interfere in its activities, carry out its monitoring, except in cases specified by this law.

The NBG itself has a strong professional independence, including the use of professional considerations and scientific principles in connection with compiling statistics.

Staff of the NBG is free from political or other influences in choosing the most appropriate sources and methods.

External debt

Research and analysis (including rationale for the choice of methodologies) are encouraged and resulted in elaborated publication of the external sector data, including sources and methods, starting in 2007.

Staff of the NBG is encouraged to comment on miss-interpretation of data. To provide assistance to users, contact information is provided on the NBG website (www.nbg.gov.ge).

External debt

Cases of misinterpretations or misuse of external sector statistics are brought to the attention of the publisher with a request to make appropriate corrections in its publication. Provisions of metadata in the quarterly and annual publications are also intended to prevent misinterpretation or misuse of balance of payments statistics.

In order to prevent misinterpretation of external sector statistics journalists occasionally consult with the BoPD‘s specialists regarding the matter of information to be published.

NBG publications and website reproduce material from the statistical law and other relevant documents about the terms and conditions under which official statistics are compiled and disseminated. The Organic Law on the National Bank of Georgia is available on NBG website. The relevant laws and legislative acts are available to the public in Georgian and English on the NBG website. Copies of the legal documents can be obtained from the contact point.

The dissemination of NBG data is not accompanied by any ministerial commentary.

However, NBG‘s statistical and general publications clearly identify the data producing agency‘s product.The Annual Report, Balance of Payments of Georgia, the quarterly Monetary Policy Report and the Monthly Review of the NBG also include comprehensive descriptive and analytical commentary in respect of economic and financial data.

The NBG‘s Staff Manual identifies rules and standards of ethical conducts for NBG‘s staff. The Manual is available to all employees and establishes rights, responsibilities, and disciplinary actions for failure to meet standards prescribed by the Manual. Staff is aware of this Manual.

The ED Statistics are compiled in conformity with the guidelines of the External Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (2013 EDS Guide) andBalance
of Payments and International investment position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6). The ED is a statistical statement that records the level of Georgia's foreign external debt at a reference period, together with details of changes in these levels, since the previous reference period, as a result of transactions with rest of the world, price changes, exchange rate changes, and other adjustments.

The detailed ED data are presented according to the framework prescribed by BPM6 and are presented in both a time series format and in a reconciliation format. The ED is fully integrated with Georgia's balance of payments statistics.

Geographic Coverage:The economic territory of Georgia consists of the geographic territory administrated by the Government of Georgia, including Georgian embassies, consulates and representatives offices abroad. Representative offices of foreign institutions on the territory of Georgia are treated as nonresidents.

Unit Coverage:In principle, all resident institutional units covered, although the ED of households may not be fully captured by existing sources and methods.

Classification: The ED classification system applied by the NBG closely follows that recommended in BPM5 and 2013 EDS Guide andsubsumes a primary breakdown between Short- and long-term instruments that are registered on the basis of original maturity (assets and liabilities with original maturities of more than 12 months are classified as long term).

Sectorization: The sectorization used to compile Georgia's ED conforms to the methodology recommended in the BPM6 (four institutional sectors in the reporting country: general
government, central bank, Deposit-Taking Corporations, except the Central Bank
and other sectors).

Conversion to unit of account: The data are compiled and published in thousands of US dollars. The stocks of external liabilities nominated in other currencies are converted to US dollars at the official exchange rate fixed by the NBG at the end of the reference period.

The ED data compilation program is sufficient to compile the ED statistics, covering four institutional sectors and a range of financial instruments. The program is based on data from direct reporting of enterprises and banks, surveys and administrative data. Data sources are subject to constant improvement.

Data on ED are collected from: (i) quarterly non-financial enterprises survey of foreign economic activity carried out by the National Statistics Office, (ii) quarterly reports from resident banks on long-term and short-term loans of commercial banks received from nonresidents and its service, (iii)data on disbursement and service of the IMF loans from the NBG, (iv) administrative data from the Ministry of Finance on external government debt and government guaranteed debt and its service, (v) data on external debt of microfinance institutions.

Source data generally meet the methodological standards and guidelines for compiling ED statistics. The forms and instructions that serve to collect data sources are consistent with the concepts and definitions provide for detailed classification of stocks data. For administrative data, the NBG carries the loan-by-loan database for the government and government guaranteed external debt based on the MOF data, and makes relevant timing and coverage adjustments to the MOF operational data. The two databases are reconciled on a regular basis. The design of the NBG data base enables one to record accrued interest, interest and principal arrears, and penalty interest.

The data from banking sector are provided on 20th day after the end of reference period. Data on external government debt, debt under government guarantee, and grants received by government are provided by the Ministry of Finance one month after the reference period. The data from surveys conducted by the NSO are submitted on 45-60th day after the end of the reference period.

Source data are assessed and merged in the ED statistics database as they are received from reporters. The electronic data verification and processing are being developed. The NBG data on banking sector is considered to be sound. The accuracy of the data received from enterprises survey is yet to be satisfactory. Where applicable, data sources are checked against other available sources. The information received from the Ministry of Finance on the external government and government guaranteed debt is reconciled with the MOF operational data. For data on FDI, temporal consistency is sought by checking reports over corresponding periods of time and by matching stock at the beginning of the period and transactions data.

The data editing procedures are followed by source data analysis at the various levels of data categorization. Data are also routinely compared with corporation reports and press reports. The applied software allows for automated computerized checks that reduce processing errors

Missing data on quarterly basis is filled according to previous/next quarter reporting. The DS report form provide for change in the terms of debt due to debt refinancing/rescheduling to be recorded as the creation of a new debt with the original debt extinguished. Adjustments made to the MOF data for compiling the ED statistics employ sound statistical techniques.

Internal data consistency is assured by applying the same concepts, definitions, and classifications for producing the quarterly and annual ED statistics. The annual data are derived by summing the quarterly information.

The annual balance of payments publication includes charts, graphics and explanatory notes, related to IIP, balance of payments, and external debt, and contains commentaries on current period developments.

The decision on the disclosure of requested information is taken considering the confidentiality of individual data. Therefore, requests for data are considered by the NBG on case-by-case basis and are dependent on confidentiality considerations.

Notes on data sources and compilation methods are available on the website of NBG and Annual Report on the Balance of Payments of Georgia. Methodological notes are posted both in Georgian and in English.Methodology, compilation practices, and data sources are also published in the IMF Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook

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